OCTOBER 22, 2024

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Welcome to The Tilt, the newsletter for content entrepreneurs from Tilt Publishing. Together, we're redefining what it means to be a publisher.

Social Media Platform Creator or Content Entrepreneur?

Yes, comparison is the thief of joy.

However, assessing if your content business is on track can also be a valuable benchmark.

Frankly, I find the analysis helpful in alleviating any impostor syndrome and giving you a reason to take a well-deserved pat on the back.

So this week, we’re digging into the results from Kajabi’s The Reality of the Creator Economy research to help you see where you stand (and why we think you’re on the right track).

It must be said that Kajabi is a creator commerce platform, so it definitely has a business stake in the game. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take its research seriously. In fact, many of the findings mirror The Tilt’s research on content entrepreneurship.

“The reality is social platforms were never meant to be places where people build sustainable businesses. Creators, who are increasingly seeing themselves as business owners, need specific tools to build and monetize their content to give them true ownership over their livelihoods, enabling them to build a life around what they know and love.

Nearly half of the surveyed creators earn less than $10K a year, and almost a quarter go two years before ever seeing a single dollar.

But revenue challenges aren’t a problem limited to the majority. They exist for high-earning creators, too, as Kajabi outlined in its State of Creator Report earlier this year.

Forty-two percent of high-earning creators say they would lose at least $50K a year if they lost access to YouTube. If Instagram went away, 38% estimate they would lose $50K or more, and a similar number (37%) say the same about the loss of access to TikTok.

Given that these platforms aren’t known for doling out big dollars to creators, the loss of a social media platform would trigger losses from related deals, such as advertising and sponsorships.

Matt Steffanina, founder of DNCR Academy, tells Kajabi that a small portion of his revenue comes from ads. “It’s great to have in the background, but I would never rely on it as my main income stream,” he says.

I realize these next stats serve Kajabi, but they still make a valid – the key differentiator – for a thriving long-term content business. You must have direct access to your subscribers.

Creators with 1K subscribers (who use Kajabi’s platform) earned:

• 288% more than YouTube creators
• 357% more than TikTok creators
• 577% more than Instagram creators

Owning your audience produces indirect effects, too. As Matt of DNCR Academy says, “Building an email list, a text list, and a digital business are all things that have allowed me a lot of freedom from the algorithms and social platforms. It allows me to be more free creatively and make the content I want to make.”

Other noteworthy findings in the research:

• The threat of a TikTok “ban” has spurred 28% of those creators to prepare for a future where the platform doesn’t exist. More creators relying on social media should do that even without a known threat to their preferred platform.
• 46% of creators find it challenging to maintain creative control of their content when working with brands.
• 45% of creators struggle to determine and negotiate fair compensation.

The latter two findings reinforce the need to think and act like an entrepreneur. You must not only own the audience but also own your business. Assess the market, be confident in your rates, and establish contracts that work for both you and your client/customer.

And that will produce the joy of content entrepreneurship.

Helpful Resources:

• ​Paid Sponsorships: Build a Better Negotiating Table​
• ​6 Business Contract Details To Know Before Signing​

– Ann Gynn

Entrepreneur: Caroline Guntur

Biz: The Swedish Organizer​

Tilt: Empowering creatives and entrepreneurs with digital systems, project management skills, and productivity strategies.

Primary Channel: Website (courses)

Other Channels: Newsletter (1.5K) LinkedIn (1K), YouTube (400), Instagram (1.4K), X (1K), TikTok (125), Pinterest (21.2K)

Time to First Dollar: 1 month

Rev Streams: Courses, coaching, workshops

Our Favorite Actionable Advice

• Create a business for your life: Caroline had a professional organizing business, but she could only do it by traveling to her clients’ homes. When that didn’t work for her life, she pivoted to digital decluttering and shortly thereafter launched online courses to help others organize their lives and businesses.
• Build a ladder: Her offerings start with a $50 mini-course and progress to a $6K program. In each offering, she promotes the next-level opportunity.
• Use free content to attract leads: From her first free YouTube course, Caroline adopted the strategy of giving away content to get people into her database and eventually convert them into customers.
• Scrub away: Her newsletter list grew to over 8K, but most subscribers weren’t engaged. So Caroline scrubbed the list over time and now has 1.5K subscribers and an open rate of more than 50%.

– Marc Maxhimer

​Read the story of Caroline Guntur.​

Know a content creator who’s going full tilt? DM us. Or email tilt@thetilt.com.

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• ​TikTok Is Killing Our Kids [and they know it] (Content Inc.)
• ​The Huge Opportunity to Build Trust with Media (This Old Marketing)
• ​Make Your Self-Published Books Stand Out with Custom Details​ (Publish & Prosper)
• Tilt Your Business is on hiatus today. Ann and Michelle return at a new time (4:30 p.m. ) on Tuesday, Oct. 29.​
• ICYMI: Diversify your Revenue with Publishing a Book​

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